Enhanced earplug with bendable stiffener

ABSTRACT

An earplug with a soft body and a stiffener in the body, the stiffener being tapered in diameter, with a rear end (34) of greatest diameter.

CROSS-REFERENCE

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/937,211 filed Sep. 09, 2004, which claimed priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/502,789 filed Sep. 12, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Earplugs are used to block environmental noise (but may pass other sound). Earplugs formed solely of soft resilient foam material are difficult to insert into the ear canal. When the front end of the earplug lies against the entrance to the ear canal and the rear end of the earplug is pushed, the foam earplug collapses. During such collapse, as shown at Z in FIG. 15, the front end of the earplug enlarges in diameter and does not move into the ear canal. It has been found that a core of stiffer material, as in the form of a rod, can be placed in a soft resilient foam body to help insert the foam body into the ear canal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,015 by Williams shows a foam body molded around a stiffer core by extrusion.

Although a rod-shaped elastomeric stiffener helps in earplug insertion, it makes the earplug stiffer against bending. Many people have ear canals that are curved, so an earplug inserted into one of the ears must bend to follow the curvature of the ear canal. The stiffener resists bending, causing forces on the sides of the person's ear canal and consequent possible discomfort to the person. An earplug with a stiffener to help insertion, wherein the stiffener was sufficiently stiff against column collapse but was easily bent by the walls of the ear canal to avoid discomfort, would be of value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, applicant provides an earplug with a soft earplug body, a stiffener extending within much of the length of the body, and an earplug manufacturing method therefor, wherein the stiffener is axially stiff but allows the body to easily bend. A more bendable earplug is obtained by using a tapered stiffener, with its rear end wide and its front end narrow.

An earplug body can be molded in a cavity, with a mandrel extending along the axis to leave a stiffener inner cavity. When the mandrel is removed, an elastomeric stiffener material is poured into the inner cavity and allowed to solidify.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear and side isometric view of an earplug of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional side view of the earplug of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the earplug of FIG. 2, but with a modified stiffener.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a mold in which the earplug of FIG. 3 is being molded.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another mold in which an earplug of the type illustrated in FIG. 6 is being molded.

FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view of a pair of earplugs, each of the type shown in FIG. 5, and with a cord with opposite ends anchored in the earplugs.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of an earplug with another form of stiffener.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a stiffener of the earplug of FIG. 7, which has a rear portion of enlarged width.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a mold, in which an earplug with a stiffener of the type shown in FIG. 8 is being molded.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an earplug in a mold, with a stiffener of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a side view of an earplug with a plurality of stiffeners or stiffener portions spaced about a circle.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken on line 12-12 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of an earplug similar to that of FIG. 11, but with stiffeners or stiffener portions of a different construction.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of an earplug similar to that of FIG. 11, but with stiffeners or stiffener portions of a different construction.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of an earplug fully inserted into an ear canal that is curved, and also showing how a purely foam earplug would collapse.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of an earplug mounted at an end of a head band.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of an earplug with a stiffener that has flanges.

FIG. 17A is an isometric view of just the stiffener of the earplug of FIG. 17.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of an earplug with a stiffener that has parts of different stiffness.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an earplug 10 which has a body 12 of soft resilient foam and a stiffener 14 that is of stiffer material than that of the body and that extends part of the distance along the earplug axis 16. The stiffener is constructed of elastomeric material, which is resilient material having a Young's modulus of elasticity of no more than 50,000 psi. It is possible to construct the body of a slow recovery foam which is resilient but with the recovery after rolling to a small diameter being delayed. The stiffener is useful during earplug insertion into a person's ear canal, by the person pushing against the rear end 20 of the earplug to force the front end portion 22 of the earplug, which seals the ear canal, to enter the ear canal. The earplug is elongated in front F and rear R directions, also indicated by arrows L. The stiffener prevents the body front end portion 22 from collapsing during insertion and thereby increasing in diameter. The stiffener 14 shown in FIG. 2 is in the form of a rod with an elongated narrow hole 24 in its rear end. The body has a narrow hole 26 extending to the body rear end 20. Except for the narrow body hole 26, there is no indication that there is a stiffener in the earplug. The hole 26 is long and narrow enough, with a length in direction L more than the width in directions W and more than the breadth in directions B (both perpendicular to the length L) so the stiffener cannot be easily seen.

FIG. 3 illustrates an earplug 30 with a stiffener 32 that is elongated along the earplug axis and is therefore post-like. The stiffener has a wider rear end 34 than its front end 36 or middle 40. The stiffener extreme front end 37 lies closer to the earplug front end 38 than to the earplug rear end 42, and usually closer to the body front end than to the body middle. The wider rear end assures that the stiffener will receive the forward pushing force that a person applies to the rear end 42 of the body 44 during insertion into the ear canal, even if the person is careless about applying the force along the middle of the earplug rear end. The front end and middle are more likely to have to bend to follow a curved ear canal and their smaller diameters facilitate such bending. The wider, or larger diameter rear end should have a diameter H that is at least 50% greater than the front end (at a location before the curvature at the front end), with H actually being more than twice G and preferably two to four times G. G is taken rearward of a rounded end. When pushing the earplug rear end during insertion, it is desirable to turn the earplug about a quarter-turn to help insert the earplug. Such quarter turn is achieved by turning the finger that is pressing on the earplug rear end by a quarter turn. The larger diameter rear end of the stiffener makes it easier to twist the earplug. The stiffener is preferably gradually tapered in diameter, that is, the diameter gradually increases rather than increasing in steps, along a majority of the stiffener length. The stiffener outside surface preferably is angled by less than 10° to the axis 16 along most of the stiffener length. The stiffener is preferably of circular cross-section, but can have other cross sections such as a square or hexagonal cross section.

FIG. 4 shows a method by which the earplug of FIG. 3 is formed. The body 44 of the earplug is molded in a mold cavity 50 formed between front or lower, and rear or upper mold parts 52, 54. The stiffener 32 has been previously manufactured with a small diameter (or small width if the hole is of noncircular cross-section) hole 56 in its rear end. The top mold part has a downwardly-projecting pin 60 that has a lower part 62 that lies in the stiffener hole 56. The pin has an upper part 64 that extends between the top of the stiffener and a bottom surface 66 of the upper mold part that molds the rear end of the earplug body. The stiffener is installed on the upper mold part as shown in FIG. 4, prior to the body molding process. To mold the body around the stiffener, foamable material is placed in the cavity 50 in the lower mold part (or foamable material is injected into a closed mold. Then the mold is closed, while the foamable material expands and fills the mold. A vent (not shown) allows air to escape. After the foam sets, the mold is opened and the pin 60 is pulled out of the stiffener, leaving the narrow elongated hole in the earplug. It is possible to fill the hole 26 (FIG. 3) with material, but applicant prefers to not do that.

In one example, the earplug front portion has a diameter D of 0.50 inch (12.5 mm), the pin 60 has a diameter of 0.5 mm to 4 mm, such as 1.5 mm, and the hole part 64 between the rear end of the stiffener and the rear end of the body is longer than the pin diameter, such as 6 mm long. The pin extends more than its diameter into the stiffener hole 56 to closely control the orientation of the stiffener in the mold. The pin front end that lies in the stiffener during molding can have a few ribs to more easily provide a press fit that prevents the stiffener from falling in the mold cavity and that allows easy pin withdrawal. The soft elastic foam body has a durometer of 1 to 10, shore A, while the stiffener is preferably of the soft rubber type with a durometer of at least 30 shore A.

FIG. 5 illustrates an earplug 70 that is somewhat similar to that of FIG. 4, except that the stiffener 72 is formed by a tube (with or without a slot in one side) whose passage 74 extends most or all of the way though the length of the stiffener (and possibly to the body front end). A pin 76 with a front end 78 extends through a long length of the stiffener. The earplug is formed in a mold 80 in a way similar to the earplug of FIG. 4. However, the stiffener passage is long and the rear end 90 of the stiffener is flush with the rear end 92 of the body (or may be recessed, or may even extend slightly rearward of the body). FIG. 6 shows that the earplug is intended to receive an end 94 of a cord 96. The cord extends between two earplugs 100, 102, with the ends 94 of the cord inserted into the tubular stiffeners in the earplugs and held therein as with adhesive, or with barbs on a stiffened cord end, or other cord attachment means such as ultrasonic welding, heat staking, etc. Such corded earplugs are used to minimize the possibility that a single earplug will fall into a vat of material being processed.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a stiffener 110 with a tapered post part 111 and with a radial (with respect to the earplug axis 112) projection 114 at its rear end. The projection 114 has recesses that form wings 115. The wings form radially outermost locations 121-124 and gussets 126. The locations 121-124 are clamped between upper and lower parts 130, 132 of the mold 134. When foamable material is placed in the mold cavity 140, the foam material which will form the earplug body, surrounds the stiffener, except at the four location 121-124. FIG. 7 shows the final earplug, which has four small stiffener locations such as 122, 123 that can be seen.

FIG. 10 illustrates an earplug 142 similar to that of FIG. 4 but with a stiffener 143 having a wider rear end. The amount of stiffener material is minimized by forming the stiffer rear end with gussets 145 that support a wide circular rear end 146 on a post-like part 147.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate an earplug 150 with a stiffener 152 formed by a plurality of rods 161-164 of material that is stiffer than the material of the soft foam body 170. Each of the rods is thin and therefore easily bent to avoid discomfort when the earplug is inserted into a curved ear canal, such as shown at 172 in FIG. 15. The four rods of FIG. 12 lie on a circle 174 centered on the earplug axis 176 and there are spaces 178 between them. The rods are each partially supported by the foam body, to resist body collapse during insertion into the ear canal. FIG. 13 shows a variation, wherein the stiffener includes two tube halves 180,182 of a tube centered on the earplug axis 184. In both FIGS. 12 and 13 the stiffeners each include a plurality of stiffeners, or stiffener portions, spaced apart along a circle that is centered on the earplug axis, with a plurality of spaces 178 or 190 between them.

FIG. 14 illustrates an earplug 200 with a stiffener 202 having a plurality of stiffener portions 211-214 that are spaced apart along a circle 216 that is centered on the earplug axis 220. The particular stiffener 202 has a center portion 222 lying at the axis and four arms 224 that connect the center portion to the stiffener portions 211-214 that lie on the circle 216. An advantage of the stiffener 202 is that the stiffener portions 211-214 and thin center portion 222 are easily bent when inserted into a curved ear canal. However, the stiffener portions 211-214 resist column collapse of the earplug body 224. The stiffeners of FIGS. 12-14 may be of constant cross-section along their entire lengths.

FIG. 16 illustrates an earplug 230 which is attached to an end of a head band 231, such as the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,790. The earplug has a body 232, and has a stiffener 234 with a hole or passage 236. A barbed post 240 has been forced into the stiffener passage. A rear end 242 of the post is anchored in the head band. An identical earplug and post lie at the opposite end of the band.

FIG. 17 shows an earplug 250 with stiffener 251 having a post 257 that is tapered, and with flanges 252, 254, 256 projecting radially outwardly (with respect to axis 260) and rearward R from the post. The stiffener is encased in a soft resilient foam body 262 by being molded in the body. The flanges, which are in the shape of truncated cones that extend 360° about the axis 260, increase the blockage of noise. The stiffener is of material that is stiffer and more dense than the material of the body, and is preferably at least twice as dense. When noise encounters an interface between materials of different densities, more of the noise is blocked. The fact that the flanges extend at a radially outward-rearward incline helps in deflecting the flanges inwardly toward the axis as the earplug is installed in the ear canal. The flanges make the earplug overall more effective in blocking a range of sound frequencies. The flanges near the front end are of smaller diameters to minimize resistance to earplug compression during initial earplug insertion. The flanges add almost no resistance to bending of the earplug. In an earplug of 12.5 millimeter diameter, and therefore 6.25 mm radius (from axis 260), the flanges have a thickness of about 0.6 mm. At least one flange projects to a distance of at least 3 mm from the axis, and at least 2 mm beyond the stiffener portion that it projects from. The flanges preferably extend radially at least about half the radial distance between the outsides of the post and the outside of the body.

FIG. 18 shows an earplug 270 with a soft foam body 272 and with a stiffener 274. The stiffener has two portions 280-282 of materials of different stiffness but with the materials of both portions being stiffer than the material of the body 272. In one example the body is of foam having a stiffness of 2 shore A, the stiffener portion 280 has a stiffness of 10 shore A, and the stiffener portion 282 has a stiffness of 40 shore A. The stiffener is tapered in diameter, being widest at its rear end. The stiffest material such as material of stiffener portion 282 is tapered in thickness, being thickest at the rear end.

Thus the invention provides earplugs with soft resilient foam bodies (including slow recovery foam) and with elastomeric stiffeners bonded to the bodies by being molded one to the other. All of the illustrated earplugs are symmetric about their axis. An earplug with an axially aligned stiffener, is molded in a mold cavity, with the stiffener held by at least one pin that is preferably a centering pin, that extends into a hole at the rear end of the stiffener. The stiffener may or may not be concealed, especially where the stiffener is a tube that will receive an end of a cord that holds a pair of earplugs together. The stiffener may have a wide rear end, and narrow front end. A wide rear end may have locations that are clamped by parts of a mold to hold the stiffener in place. The stiffener may have a plurality of stiffener portions spaced along a circle that is concentric with the earplug axis. The stiffener may have flanges that help block noise. The stiffener may have radially inner and outer parts of different stiffness.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents. 

1. An earplug comprising a soft and resilient body and a stiffener of material that is more rigid than the material of said body and that lies primarily in said body, said body having a front body portion with a front end for insertion into a person's ear canal and a rear end, and said stiffener having front and rear ends lying respectively closest to said body front and rear ends, wherein: said stiffener is tapered in diameter with said stiffener rear end being of larger diameter than said stiffener front end.
 2. The earplug described in claim 1 wherein: said stiffener rear end is at least 50% wider than said front end.
 3. The earplug described in claim 1 wherein: said stiffener rear end is at least 200% of the width of said stiffener front end.
 4. The earplug described in claim 1 wherein: said earplug has an axis, and said stiffener is gradually tapered in diameter along a majority of its length, with the stiffener outside surface angled no more than 10° to said axis along a majority of the stiffener length.
 5. The earplug described in claim 1 wherein: said stiffener has an axis and said stiffener has a rear portion with a plurality of radially outwardly projecting wings.
 6. The earplug described in claim 1 wherein: said earplug has an axis and said stiffener has at least one flange that is surrounded by material of said body and that extends at least partially radially outward by at least half the distance between an outer surface of said flange and an adjacent outside surface of said body.
 7. An earplug that has an axis that extends in front and rear directions and that comprises a soft and resilient body and a stiffener of elastomeric material that is more rigid than material of said body and that is more dense than the material of said body, said stiffener lying in said body with said foam material of said body lying around much of said stiffener and said body and stiffener bonded together by one being molded to the other, said body having a front body portion for insertion into a person's ear canal, wherein: said stiffener includes a post-like portion and at least one flange projecting at least partially radially outward from said post-like portion and surrounded by said foam.
 8. The earplug described in claim 7 wherein: said at least one flange extends at least 3 mm from said axis.
 9. The earplug described in claim 7 wherein: said at least one flange extends radially outward and at a rearward incline from said post-like portion.
 10. The earplug described in claim 7 wherein: said stiffener post-like portion is tapered in diameter, with its rear end being at least 50% greater in diameter than its front end. 